Impact of a city centre on the dispersal of a regional pollen cloud. Cas of Montréal, Canada.
Abstract
Highly allergenic ragweed pollen is released into the air in large quantities at the end of every summer in and around Montreal. More than 19% of the city's population experiences hay fever (DSP-Montreal Center, 2000). The aim of this study is to obtain a deeper insight into the manner in which a North American urban area may influence the dispersal of a regional pollen clouds, how it modifies the dispersal and thereby its concentration. Downtown areas provide particular surface characteristics that result in strong disturbances to regional meteorological conditions. Strong pollen concentrations are modified by the passage of fronts and may increase the occurrence of regional-scale pollen peaks. They offer the best conditions for the local dilution of pollen and even the best dynamic conditions for external pollen that reaches Montreal from southern regions. On the contrary, anticyclonic situations seem to offer the best conditions for local production but inhibit dilution on a larger scale. Observations have been made in order to investigate the vertical as well as the regional versus the local and street-level differences in pollen abundance. The aim is to develop an original statistical downscaling technique, inferring pollen concentrations from the largest to the smallest scales. At the regional scale, the emphasis is placed on the typical meteorological conditions or weather types influencing the regional pollen cloud. At the street level, the discussion focuses on whether these prior regional conditions continue to influence the micro-scale pollen diffusion or whether they are themselves modified by the characteristics of the surface. If this were to be the case, then it would be essential to address the issue of how it affects the pollen concentrations at the pedestrian level, with all this may imply in term of public health.
- Publication:
-
EGS - AGU - EUG Joint Assembly
- Pub Date:
- April 2003
- Bibcode:
- 2003EAEJA.....2707G